Stuart to call it a career in Bridgewater

Updated 11:01 pm, Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Photo: Walter Kidd

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In this file photo First Selectman Bill Stuart of Bridgewater waves to the crowd as he rides in a town parade with his grandchaildren. At the wheel is George Allingham, formerly a longtime friend of Stuart.

In this file photo First Selectman Bill Stuart of Bridgewater waves to the crowd as he rides in a town parade with his grandchaildren. At the wheel is George Allingham, formerly a longtime friend of Stuart.

Photo: Walter Kidd

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Bridgewater First Selectman Bill Stuart

Bridgewater First Selectman Bill Stuart

Photo: File Photo/ Carol Kaliff, ST

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Bill Stuart, Democratic first selectman of Bridgewater for 30 years, announced he will not seek reelection in November 2013.

Bill Stuart, Democratic first selectman of Bridgewater for 30 years, announced he will not seek reelection in November 2013.

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Bridgewater First Selectman Bill Stuart acknowledges congratulations from a well-wisher at his home after winning a closely contested battle with longtime fellow Democratic selectman Neil Cable for the next two years at the helm.
Photo by Alyson Hickey less

Bridgewater First Selectman Bill Stuart acknowledges congratulations from a well-wisher at his home after winning a closely contested battle with longtime fellow Democratic selectman Neil Cable for the next two ... more

BRIDGEWATER -- Bill Stuart, who held sway as first selectman in this small town for so long that a bumper sticker on his car reads, "This is my Town," is packing it in after 30 years.

Stuart announced Wednesday he will not seek another four-year term in November. An FBI investigation of town finances and a long-running feud with a former friend and political ally cast a pall over his last year in office.

A native of Bridgewater and a graduate of New Milford High School, Stuart said he feels good about his tenure overall and where the town stands today.

"I'm leaving the town in great shape," Stuart said Wednesday. "Recreation, the senior center, town facilities, the highways, all are in great shape. The town's in the best fiscal shape it has been in all my years in office."

But Stuart acknowledged that his political battles have taken a toll.

"I might have run for another term, but George Allingham has been ruthless in coming after me over the last few years," he said, "and Bridgewater doesn't deserve to be continually dragged through the mud."

Allingham, the town's former Board of Finance chairman and for decades fast friends with Stuart, first raised questions about Stuart's management of town finances in 2008.

Since then, there have been lawsuits and accusations brought against Stuart by and regarding the Allingham family. New Milford attorney Paul Garlasco and Stuart also have had a running feud involving lawsuits and ethics charges.

The FBI last July raided Town Hall, seizing boxes of records and later interviewing some town officials. Federal officials have declined to discuss the status of any investigation.

In recent years, Stuart's management of the Burnham Fund, a charity for the needy, had drawn criticism from some who said he mismanaged it, claims that Stewart said were baseless.

The Burnham Fund was created in 1925 from the $10,000 bequest of a former resident who directed the money be used to aid the town's poor. The fund has grown in value to more than $250,000.

Until three years ago, Stuart, as first selectman, had sole authority over how the funds were to be disbursed. Now, a majority of the town's selectmen have to approve any grants.

Supporters and foes alike have acknowledged through the years that Stewart has got his way on most matters, major and minor.

"He runs the town as his personal fiefdom," neighbor and friend Michael Chelminski told The News-Times last year. "But he's done a lot of good things for the town. You go to his office and tell him your road needs fixing. The next week, the road crew is out there."

With a population of 1,727, according to the 2010 census, Bridgewater is the smallest town in the area. It's also, by far, the least densely populated town in the region, with 106 people per square mile.

Celebrities like its leafy beauty and its privacy. Writers like Van Wyck Brooks and Theodore White lived there. For a time, so did theater and film director Mike Nichols and his wife, newswoman Diane Sawyer. Actress Mia Farrow is still in residence.

Bridgewater is the only dry town in the state. Stuart, like other residents, has a bar set up in his garage.

The first selectman and his family own Shallow Brook Farm, which raises, sells and boards horses. His son, Bill Stuart Jr, also raises beef cattle. Their land has been owned by the Stuart family since 1926.